Tag Archives: Iraq

THE LEVANT – The lightning rise of the Islamic State group is turning it into a magnet for Muslim extremists, as US air strikes in Iraq and Syria help galvanize support for their cause. Little known until its stunning capture of the Iraqi city of Mosul in June, the group …

THE LEVANT – Intensified air strikes helped Kurdish militia push back Islamic State jihadists fighting for Kobane as pressure mounted Wednesday for more international action to save the key Syrian border town. US-led warplanes on Wednesday intensified bombing raids against jihadists advancing on the strategic Syrian border town of Kobane, …

THE LEVANT – Iranian television published a rare picture Monday of its elite Quds Force chief in Iraq that was widely circulated online, puncturing the mystique of one of the region’s most powerful men. The image of Major General Qassem Suleimani purportedly showing him on an Iraqi battlefield was published …

THE LEVANT – Iraqi legislator Vian Dakhil on Monday received the Anna Politkovskaya prize for her denunciation of the jihadist group Islamic State over its brutal treatment of Yazidi women. The award – handed out by London-based organisation RAW in WAR to honour women working to help those trapped in …

THE LEVANT – Nine months of shelling, airstrikes and street battles have taken a heavy toll on Iraq’s “forgotten” province of Anbar, the first to be overrun by militants from the group now calling itself the Islamic State (IS). The cities of Ramadi and Fallujah have been reduced to bombed-out wrecks: hospitals, homes, …

THE LEVANT – Former Pentagon chief Leon Panetta has denounced the White House in a new memoir, accusing President Barack Obama’s top aides of undercutting efforts to secure a deal in 2011 that could have kept US troops in Iraq. Retaining a small US force would have helped contain sectarian …

THE LEVANT – Turkey’s parliament Thursday authorised military action against the Islamic State jihadist group, whose fighters have battled their way to the doorstep of a key town across the border in Syria. The move allows the deployment of armed forces in Syria and Iraq, as well as the transit …

THE LEVANT – By Ammar Karim – As Iraqi forces struggle to pin back the Islamic State group on the ground, Baghdad is taking its war against the jihadists to the airwaves with a television comedy series. As Iraqi forces struggle to pin back the Islamic State group on the …

THE LEVANT – Kurdish troops backed by warplanes battled the Islamic State group on three fronts in northern Iraq Tuesday, clawing back land lost to the jihadists in recent months. The peshmerga struck before dawn against the town of Rabia on the Syrian border, north of the jihadist-controlled second city …

THE LEVANT – As they gather in Saudi Arabia’s holy city of Mecca for the annual hajj, some pilgrims have denounced atrocities by Islamic State group jihadists as “a virus” threatening the world. But many also expressed concerns about the US-led air war against them. “Islam is innocent from actions …

THE LEVANT – British warplanes flew their first mission over Iraq since parliament authorised strikes against Islamic State jihadists, but returned without bombing on Saturday, the Ministry of Defence in London said. Royal Air Force Tornado GR4 combat jets returned to Britain’s RAF Akrotiri base on Cyprus without dropping any …

THE LEVANT – Iran will attack Islamic State group jihadists inside Iraq if they advance near the border, ground forces commander General Ahmad Reza Pourdestana said in comments published on Saturday. “If the terrorist group (IS) come near our borders, we will attack deep into Iraqi territory and we will …

THE LEVANT – The US-led coalition launched strikes against Islamic State militants besieging a Kurdish town in Syria as world leaders prepared for talks on Wednesday at the UN on battling the jihadists. The overnight raids targeted Islamic State (IS) group fighters who have waged a fierce assault in the …

THE LEVANT – By Matthew Barber – The plight of thousands of Yazidi women, kidnapped by the Islamic State (IS) during its August 3 attack on Iraq’s Sinjar mountains and in the following weeks, has received some media attention, but most people are unaware of just how far-reaching this disastrous …

THE LEVANT – The White House and the US military scrambled to play down a suggestion by the nation’s top officer that deploying ground forces in Iraq to fight Islamic State jihadists was an option. General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff and President Barack Obama’s …

THE LEVANT – The Iraqi parliament voted down Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi’s nominees for defence and interior minister Tuesday, leaving the key positions unfilled as the country battles to regain ground from militants. Parliament approved Abadi’s partial cabinet on August 8, ushering in his term as premier, but he asked …

THE LEVANT – Tekoshin stands on a mountain in north Iraq with a rifle slung over her shoulder and a grenade tucked into her belt, facing jihadists in “a struggle to liberate women”. Women have been fighting alongside men in the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) to wrest Mount Makhmur in …

THE LEVANT – President Barack Obama will vow in a national address Wednesday to target the Islamic State with air strikes “wherever they exist” in a sign he plans to attack the jihadists inside Syria for the first time. According to excerpts of his speech released by the White House, …

By Dr. Haytham Mouzahem for Islamist Gate – It was not surprising what the New York Times revealed on August 20, 2014 that ISIS had pressed the United States to provide 100 million Euros (about $132 million) as ransom for the release of the American journalist James Foley before killing …

THE LEVANT – Militants, including two suicide bombers, attacked a town north of Baghdad that has resisted jihadists, killing 18 people on Monday, police and a doctor said. A first suicide bomber blew up a vehicle packed with explosives to breach a barrier in a southern neighbourhood of Dhuluiyah, which …

THE LEVANT – Islamic State fighters appear to be using captured US military issue arms and weapons supplied to moderate rebels in Syria by Saudi Arabia, according to a report published on Monday. The study by the London-based small-arms research organisation Conflict Armament Research documented weapons seized by Kurdish forces …

THE LEVANT -An Iraqi soldier says he survived the mass execution of his comrades-in-arms by Islamic State gunmen by falling over when he heard a gunshot and pretending he was dead for hours amid the dozens of blood-soaked bodies around him. The massacre, which took place in June, is gaining …

The Levant – First appeared on the Daily Beast – An airstrike in the ISIS stronghold of Mosul killed at least two members of the group, including an aide to ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, according to the Iraqi Defense Ministry. Reports that Baghdadi himself had been killed by a …

THE LEVANT – Takfiri radicals from the ISIL terrorist group have abducted at least 100 Shia and Izadi children at an orphanage near the troubled northern Iraqi city of Mosul. Local residents say the militants kidnapped the children after they captured the city of Talafar in June and Shingal in …

THE LEVANT – the U.S. believes that about a dozen Americans are fighting with ISIS in Syria, part of a larger group of more than 100 Americans who have joined various rebel groups in the country. The new estimate was provided by the Pentagon in a clarification of comments made …

THE LEVANT – After a long, hard fought battle outside of the University of Tikrit, the Iraqi Army has finally entered the school, forcing the Islamic State to abandon their positions and retreat north. This marks the first time in two months that the Iraqi Army has been able to enter …

THE LEVANT – For almost 24 hours, the Islamic State has bombarded the Deir ez-Zor Military Airport with rocket-propelled grenades, mortar shells, and short-range missiles. A source from the Syrian military stated that drones have been identified flying above the airport, possibly capturing footage of SAA positions. The Islamic State is …

THE LEVANT – Pope Francis has sought to encourage Iraq’s beleaguered Christians under threat from Islamic militants, saying they are the “heart” of the church and that the church is proud of them. In comments translated into Arabic during his weekly Wednesday general audience, Francis said the Catholic Church is like …

THE LEVANT – Militants from the Islamic State group carried out a mass killing of hundreds of Iraqi soldiers captured when the extremists overran a military base north of Baghdad in June, a leading international watchdog said Wednesday. The incident at Camp Speicher, an air base that previously served as a …

THE LEVANT -Iraqi security forces backed by Shi’ite militias on Sunday broke the two-month siege of Amerli by Islamic State militants and entered the northern town, officials said. The mayor of Amerli and army officers said troops backed by militias defeated fighters from the Islamic State (IS) to the east …

THE LEVANT – Iraq’s outgoing prime minster pledged Monday to turn his country into “a big grave” for Sunni militants from the Islamic State group and commended security forces who achieved a rare victory over insurgents by ending the siege of a Shiite town. Nouri al-Maliki made the comments during …

THE LEVANT – Twenty-nine “Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant” (ISIL) gunmen have been killed in on-going battles with the Iraqi army to retake villages and towns on the border with Amerli, Diyala province, the Iraqi Ministry of Defence said Friday. “Since Thursday, the army has killed 29 ISIL …

THE LEVANT – The jihadist Islamic State group has posted video of the execution of a captured Kurdish fighter, in a warning to Iraqi Kurdish leaders to end military cooperation with Washington, a monitoring group said. The United States has carried out a wave of air strikes against the jihadists …

THE LEVANT – As Kurdish peshmerga forces launched a major attack against the group Thursday, ISIL militants set several wells ablaze at an oil field in northern Iraq before retreating, according to local reports. The Ain Zalah oil field was one of the a few fields Islamist extremist group seized control of in northen Iraq and …

THE LEVANT – The Obama administration is considering launching a humanitarian relief operation for Shiite Turkmen in northern Iraq who have been under siege for weeks by Islamic State militants, U.S. defense officials said Wednesday. The mission, if it went forward, would be the second recent U.S. military humanitarian intervention …

THE LEVANT – The Islamic State has posted photos alleging the recent conversion of Yezidi Kurds to Islam, claiming they freely chose to convert. Despite this claim made by the Islamic State, literature was distributed in the Nineveh Province of Iraq demanding that all non-Muslims pay the Jizya (tax for …

The Levant Exclusive – By Dr. Amer Al Sabaileh* Regional developments have created the pressure towards a solution to the ongoing security crisis created by the Islamic State in Iraq. While there are various aspects and pressure points, the challenges facing those countries bordering Iraq are still increasing. …

THE LEVANT – Gen. Martin Dempsey said Sunday that once he determines the Islamic State militants in Iraq have become a direct threat to the U.S. homeland, he will recommend the U.S. military move directly against the group in Syria. But the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said that …

THE LEVANT – By Ariel Ahram -Iraq stands alone in the Arab world in having large quantities of two highly valuable resources—water and oil. Water, of course, has allowed the flourishing of civilization along the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Ample endowments of water gave the Iraq the …

THE LEVANT – The most terrifying and brutal branch of Al Qaeda, the Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), vows its solidarity with the ISIS against the American and Iranian conspiracy and their agents of the apostate Gulf rulers. The solidarity was announced after U.S. launched air strikes in Iraq against the …

THE LEVANT – Prime Minister-designate Haider Al-Abadi rejected a call made by his predecessor Nuri Al-Maliki not to entertain “preconditions” from Iraq’s Sunnis, stressing that he is committed to forming a national unity government that includes all Iraqi political and sectarian factions. In a statement on Thursday, Abadi said: “I am …

THE LEVANT – On Friday the political Bloc “Diyala our identity,” led by Parliament Speaker Salim al-Jubouri, withdrew from negotiations to form the new government because of the attack on the mosque Musab bin Omair in Diyala province, which resulted in the killing of dozens of worshipers, calling for the union …

THE LEVANT – Yesterday, the Islamic State captured the imperative neighborhood of Ma’lameen in the city of Ramadi. The Iraqi Armed Forces withdrew from the neighborhood after violent firefights and the lack of manpower to withstand the onslaught from the Islamic State. At least a dozen Iraqi soldiers were killed during …